Page 36 of His First Baby Rodeo

“Oh.” El hesitated. “Does that mean… do you need me to stay longer?”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“No, no, I can,” she said quickly. “I didn’t mean to imply otherwise. I’m happy to stay as long as you need help.”

“It shouldn’t be too much longer,” he said. “But my doctor doesn’t want me to rush back into using my arm too much.”

“Totally get it. I’m happy to stay a while longer.” She was more than happy to, actually. “You probably want to take your time getting back into the swing of things,” she added, wanting to make sure he felt no pressure at all to take back the responsibility for the ranch chores. It was fine with her if he delayed that as long as possible, but she didn’t feel able to articulate that thought. “Does your doctor say anything about what you’re capable of right now?”

“Oh, you know.” Mac rolled his eyes. “I’m not sure how literally to take his advice. This is the man who wanted to push me into retirement.”

“Right.” She wasn’t going to be foolish enough to register an opinion onthatsubject again, but… “A slow recovery probably wouldn’t do you any harm.”

He grunted and pulled a beer out of the fridge.

El frowned. He definitely seemed as if something was bothering him, and she wasn’t sure what it could be. Was he offended that she had suggested he take it slow? Was this another incarnation of the same old argument about whether or not he ought to consider retirement?

If it was, she wasn’t going to bring down the mood by pursuing it.

“I’m going to take a shower,” she said, wondering whether he’d call her back, remind her that the two of them had made plans to watch a movie together. But he said nothing, and after a moment she left the kitchen and went upstairs.

She spent the whole time she was in the shower brooding over what was going to happen between the two of them now. He wanted her to stay — he had been clear about that — but things would inevitably change. This was Mac Palmer, after all. He was hard-pressed to accept help when he was physically incapable of doing something on his own. Now that he had both his hands back at his disposal, it was going to become clear really fast that he didn’t need her as badly as he once had. And once that was obvious, it would be hard for either one of them to excuse her sticking around.

She might not be leaving today, but the final countdown had started.

When she got out of the shower, she heard the sound of the TV coming up from downstairs. He’d obviously decided to watch something without her. She dressed in her nightshirt and shorts, deciding to call it an early evening, and headed for her room.

But on the way there, she hesitated.

A door in the hall that had always been closed stood slightly open, as if it had failed to latch properly the last time someone had been inside. She had always assumed this was a closet, but now, looking in, she could see that there was a room here.

She pushed it open.

The room was small — it looked as though it might have been designed as a guest bedroom. But that wasn’t how it was being used. Instead, shelves had been mounted all around the walls, and trophies were on display. There were framed photos, professional-looking ones, of Mac astride powerful broncos frozen in a moment of trying to throw him off.

She moved closer to one of the pictures to examine it. It was a good picture. It captured wonderfully the motion of the horse and the sense of danger running through the whole moment. But the thing that drew El’s attention more than any other was the look of sheer joy on Mac’s face.

Unguarded, unrestrained pleasure.

She had so rarely seen him look like that. He always seemed to have walls up. He was always guarding his heart. And so was she. It was, she realized now, one thing the two of them had had in common from the start.

But here, in the rodeo ring, all the walls apparently came down. This was where he was most himself. This was where he was happiest. She felt like she was seeing right through to the core of him.

“El?”

She turned. Mac was standing in the doorway.

“What are you doing in here?” he asked. He didn’t sound angry, just confused. “I thought you were going to come back down so we could finish the movie.”

“I didn’t know if you wanted to.”

“Sure, I want to. Why would you think otherwise?”

“You’re not always the most transparent person in the world when it comes to your feelings.”

Mac looked a little taken aback. “I guess you’re not wrong there,” he admitted. “Well, I do want to finish the movie. I’ve been looking forward to spending time with you all day. And now that I’ve got my hand back…” He let the sentence trail off tantalizingly.

El nearly forgot what she had been thinking in the haze of lust that washed over her at that. But— “Mac, we need to talk.”

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